Type-checker.



W. H. KOLVENBAGH.

TYPE OHBOKER.

APPLIUATIOH mun Jun 7, 1901.

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

I BH EETSBHEET 2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS- WILLIAM HENRY koivnnnncn, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

TYPE-CHE CKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1909.

Application filed June 7, 1907. Serial No. 377,746.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I WILLIAM HENRY KoL- VENBACH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of the Bronx, in the county and btate of New York, have invented a new and improved Ty e-Checker, of which the following is a ful clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to type-checkers, my

more particular object being to produce a device somewhat similar in its action to a typewriter, but used for the special purpose of making out checks and the like, and of preserving a record of the same.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

' Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of my type-checker, showing the movable carriage, the mechanism mounted thereupon for holding the check, and the lever at the right for making line spaces in the writing upon the check; Fig. 2 1s a section upon the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow, and showing at the to the arrangem'ent of the multi-colored ri bon employed in printing the checks, and also showmg in the lower central portion of the figure the carriage containing the rolls of carbon paper and writing paper employed in keeping a ermanent record; and Fig. .3 is a'plan view 0 the apparatus, showing the same as ready for use.

' Mounted upon a frame 4 are standards 5 connected together at their to s by a plate 6 integral therewith. Mounts upon posts 7 are rails 8, 9 of c lindrical form, and supported by these rai s is a carriage 10 provided with wheels 11, 12 for this purpose, these wheels resting directly upon the rails 8,9.

The carriage 10 is provided with a portion 13 which serves as a platen and is partially bounded by slots 14, 15 extendin longitudinally in the general direction of t e length of the machine. Four reels 16, 17, 18, 9.93am severally provided with a gear wheel 20, 21, 22, 23, these gear wheels meshing together so that the reels 16, 17 turn in opposite directions, and the reels 18, 19 also turn in opposite directions. A gear wheel 18" connects together the wheels 21, 22. At 20" is an idle roller mounted upon a swinging arm 20", the latter being engaged by a spring 20.

A ribbon or fillet of writing paper 24 is with a partially wound u on the reel 16, so as to form a cylindrical ody 26. A ribbon 25 of carbon paper passes partially around this eyhndrical body and is wound upon the reel 17 so as to form a cylindrical body 27. At the opposite side of the carriage the ribbons 24, 25 are similarly wogind upon the reels 19, 18, so as to form cylindrical bodies 28, 29. Connected rigidly with the gear wheel 23 and with the reel 19 is a ratchet wheel 30, adapted to turn step by ste and in so doing to turn the several gear w eels.

. A hand lever 31 is disposed at one end of the carriage 10 and is adapted to move a pawl 32. Both the lever and the pawl are rigid upon arocking shaft 33 and are retracted by aid of a s ring 33. The pawl 32 is provided ownwardly-pro1ecti11g portion 34 serving as a limiting stop. When the upper end of the lever 31 is turned to the right, ac cording to Fig. 1, the pawl 32 rise! a iid turns the ratchet wheel 30 a distance represented by one of its notches.

A carriage motor 35 having the form of a revolubledisk, is sup orted u on the frame 4 and is provided wit a spira spring 36 for the purpose of turning it toward the left. A metallic band 37 is partially wound upon this disk and is connected by a fastenin 38 with the carriage 10. The tension of t e spring 36 tends to pull the carriage 10 slightly to the left, but not with sufficient energy to enable the carriage to travel exce pt when assisted, as hereinafter described. lhis arrangement practically lightens the carriage and makes it easier to manipulate.

A slide 39 is mounted upon the is provided with slots 41 extcn ing transvers'ely of the general length of the machine, and screws 42, 43 extend through these slots for the urpose of limiting the play of the slide. hese screws do not bind upon the slide but merely serve as guides for it.

by a spiral spring 39 and is provided wit 1 a oint ada ted to enter recesses 39, 39, 39

m the sli e 39. By grasping the handle 39 and raising the pawl, the slide may be placed in either of three predetermined positions and ,subsequently maintained where thus placed.

Two vertical standards 44 rise from the slide 39 and support a reel 45. A fork 46 1s connected by pivots 47 with the slide 39 and is adapted to swing upon the pivots 47, as mlate 6 and .dicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

having a handle 39 is encirciled The free end of the fork 46 carries a reel 48. Partially wound upon this reel and partially wound upon the reel 45 is an ink ribbon 49 ,carrying inks of different colors, as indicated in l igs. 2 and 3; these colors may be blue, black and red.

Guides 50, 51 are su ported by the fork {16 and serve not only to race the fork but also to direct the ink ribbon 19 and to maintain the same always in proper position. Antifriction rollers 52 are mounted upon the fork 46. A handle 53 is integral with the fork 46 and is used for tilting it, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. This the operator does by merely pressing his finger upon the handle.

Gage pins 54 are mounted upon the platen 13 (see big. 2), or, in other words, upon the upper part of the carriage 10 intermediate the slots 14, 15. Legends 55 (see left of Fig. 3) are employed for the purpose of indicating the positions occupied by the colors of the ink ribbon. '1' bet is to say, in inserting the ribbon these legends serve as a guide as to the manner in which the ink ribbon should be placed upon the reels. An escapement' gear is shown at 56 and may be of ordinary construction, such, for instance, as is well known in typewriters for controlling move ments of the platen.

At 57 is showna type-bar of the kind ordinarily used in many typewriters, for instance, in the Williams typewriter, this bar and others of its kind being used for striking the check which is laid against the gage pins 54 (see Fig. 2). The type-bars, keys for actuating the same, the details of the escapement, and the motor mechanism for actuatin the carriage, being old and well known, nee not here be described in detail.

M device is used as follows: The ink ribbon eing upon the reels 45, 48, as above described and as indicated in Fig. 3,an d the ribbons 24, 25 of writingpaper and carbon paper, being arranged as indicated, the machine is rea y for service. Suppose that in a restaurant it is desired that a waiter shall give to a customer a check showing the nature of his indebtedness. The operator presses his finger upon the handle 53, raisin the fork 46. Hel'next lays a blank chec u on the carbon ribbon 25, the edge of the c eck being flush with the gage pins 54. Suppose, further, that in,the restaurant in question all purchases of commodities of special kinds are to be noted u on the check in inks of diflerent colors. or instance, a check for ci' ars should bear blue lettering, for food black lettering, and for wine red lettering. By this means a customer being acquainted with the system can instantly detect any fraud or imposition as to the character of the indebtedness. for cigars, and consequently calls for blue let- If the purchase is tering, the operator, in placin the check against the gage pins 54, grasps t 1e handle 40 of the slide 39 and moves the slide into such position that the blue ribbon (indicating oi: gars) occupies substantially the center of the machine. In doing this the fork 46 would be moved slightly to the left, accordin to Fig. 2. The type-bars 57 are next cause( to strike downwardly and in so doing they force the blue ortion of the ribbon against the face of the clock, printin thereupon the order or memorandum in blue letters and figures. The abbreviation used for indicating the particular waiter taking the order may, of

course, be taken down at the same time. The strokes of the typebars cause the paper ribbon 24 to receive corresponding impressions from the carbon paper25.

W hen the operator wishes to drop down a line, he moves the top of the lever 31 to the right according to Fig. 1. This turns the ratchet wheel 30 a predetermined distance, and this causes the turning of all of tlie.1:eels 16, 17, 18, 19. Consequently the check resting upon the ribbon 25 of carbon paper is moved to the left according to Fi 2. The rollers 5;. press upon the chec slightly and as these rollers turn they ofler little resistance to the movements of the check. The ink ribbon does not undergo any sidewise movements and hence, no matter if the entire faceof the check be used for receiving memoranda, all of the letters and figuaes upon it will be of the single color desire The writing aper 24 being used step by step, as the di erent checks are made out, must show at all times a faithful facsimile record of the contents of the checks. Hence, the proprietor may eve night, b inspect ing the record or recor s made urin the day, determine exactly the amount of usi ness transacted, and com are this data with the conditioncf the cas drawer or of his coin box, as the case may be.

By using the machine above described, the o portunityfor dishonesty or mistake upon t e part of the waiters is reduced to a minimum, and the customer is always in a good position to point out any error which may lave been made.

The paper ribbons 24, 25 are made comparatively thin and of lengths which do not render them cumbersome or difficult to oper-' etc by the gears 20, 23. As these gears each make the same number of revolutions, the objection might be raised that as the aper ribbons unwind from one reel and win into another, difference in thickness of the pa er thus wound and unwound might develop ifferences in the condition of the paper nibbons. This is avoided by the action of an idle roller 20, a swinging arm 20 and a spring 20. The spring constantly presses the arm so that the roller takes up the slack of the ribbons and keeps the latteruniformly taut.

The escapement wheel 56 moves step by ste in the manner well known in typewriters an this confers upon the carriage 10 a step by step motion.

I do not limit myself to the particular use of the machine above set forth, neither do I limit myself to any particular materials to be employed in its manufacture. Obviously the invention may be used in relations other than those above pointed out Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination of a frame, a carriage movable relatively thereto, said carriage being provided with a platen having slots, mechanism mounted within said carriage and adapted to feed a ribbon outwardly through one of said slots and inwardly through another of said slots, said ribbon passing across said platen, means controllable at will for feeding said ribbon step by step, an ink ribbon, means for supporting the same at a point adjacent to said carriage, and means for impressing said ink ribbon toward said first-mentioned ribbon for the purpose of printin upon a check.

2. '1 1e combination of a frame, a slide mounted thereupon, means controllable at will for moving said slide into different positions relatively to said frame, a spool mounted u on said slide, a fork extending from said spoo another spool mounted upon said fork, arr ink ribbon wound partially upon both of said spools, a platen disposed adjacent to said fork and a typewriter key for striking said ribbon u on said platen.

3. The com bination of a carriage provided with slots and with a platen disposed intermediate said slots, means mounted within said carriage for supporting a ribbon, said ribbon extending outwardly through one of said slots across said platen and inwardly through the other of said slots, means controllable at will for moving said ribbon step by step so as to bring new portions thereof successively into proxlmity with said platen, a frame disposed adjacent to said carriage, a slide mounted upon said frame and adjustable relatively thereto in the general direction of travel of said ribbon, means connected with said carriage for supporting an ink ribbon, the general direction of said ink ribbon crossing the general direction of said firstmentioned ribbon, a portion of said ink ribbon being parallel with said platen, and

means for impressing intelligible characters -upon said ink ribbon at a point adjacent to said platen In estimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY KOLVENBACH.

Witnesses:

WALTON HARRISON, JOHN P. DAVIS. 

